Frankly I think all ya'll are underestimating the impact of a super volcano eruption at Yellowstone. I hope and pray you're right but I suspect only the Grand Tetons, and the Blue ridge will survive. East of the Blue ridge will be a desert wasteland and west of the Tetons will be a few islands. the middle will be the 8th sea, we'll call the the Sea of Corruption in honor of the Clinton's.

Elvis, very glad to head all is well, I was a little worried when I first heard about it.

Still haven't heard from Radar yet...hope all is well with him and Nat. I used to have his cell phone number but with a couple of changes of phone I've lost it. Are you likely to have his phone number Elvis? If so, could you PM it to me please mate?

Received an email from Radar today...all good with him, in fact he says he didn't even feel the earthquake.

Vince wrote:

he says he didn't even feel the earthquake.

Didn't feel it?!???! There was a 5.6 earthquake in Oklahoma this past weekend that was felt from Canada down to Houston (1200 miles). Shook the walls of the house pretty good down here. Did some damage in Northern OK.

In January 1998 we had an ice storm in Québec and we were out of electricity for 23 days. I had in stock 10 cords of wood (maple) and a wood stove. I had enough wood for my warmth and for that of my two neighbors. For food I could rely on a freezer (21 cubic feet) full of frozen goods and two refrigerators, one full of food and the other, very important, was full of consumable liquids. I had a generator and enough fuel to last me the 23 days. It was used sparingly to keep the refrigerators and freezer going and even than we covered these with woolen blankets to reduce the heat penetration. It was also used for one light at a time. The BBQ outdoors was use almost every day to cook our main meal at noon. For hot water we maintained a large pot of water on the stove. This was enough to have a face cloth wash every night. My hunting and camping gear were put to good use. All in all my wife and I had a good time and secretly are awaiting for the next one.
On the down side: We only had a battery powered radio but no TV or newspaper to keep in touch with the outside world. I must admit that my wife is a beautiful and charming lady, but 23 days in close quarters with any one and no one else can cause things to get hairy.
When it came to an end we went out to the shopping mall to see what other people looked like and had diner at the restaurant.

Google Quebec ice storm of January 1998

Yeah, well who told you the earth was a safe place to live? Then there was the Great Blizzard of 1978 which hit Ohio and SW Michigan. The day of the storm it took me 12 hours to get home, I was less than a mile away but the drifts on the road were at least 10 feet high so I had to back track several miles to come in from a different direction. We had two kids there so you can imagine what a month of isolation, no TV, no power, no food, was like with a couple little girls. Thank God it was only about 10 days till the National Guard showed up with food, water, and amazingly a couple packs of cigarettes, it was three weeks before I could get back to the car I rammed into a drift in our driveway. I could go on and on, but we too were somewhat prepared, with firewood and catalytic heaters for cooking on and melting snow for water. Lived in California from 1950 to 1968 and if it wasn't a 5 nobody even paused, just get used to it I guess. But, I am very happy that all is well in NZ.